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Franz Bibfeldt^[1] is a fictitious German theologian and in-joke among American academic theologians.^[2]^[3]

Bibfeldt made his first appearance as the author of an invented footnote in a term paper of a Concordia Seminary student, Robert Howard Clausen. Clausen's classmate, Martin Marty, adopted the name for continued satire and Bibfeldt became a running joke for Martin and his friends. His birthdate and baptismal day was set as November 1, 1897. In 1951, Marty's review of Bibfeldt's The Relieved Paradox was published in the Concordia Seminarian. When the ruse was uncovered, Marty's fellowship to study overseas was revoked, and he instead enrolled in the University of Chicago, where he spent the rest of his academic career.^[2]^[3]

Since then most Bibfeldt writings and talks have come out of the University of Chicago, where a tradition exists of a Donnelley Stool of Bibfeldt Studies. Targets of Bibfeldt-related content include conservative theologians who maintain the historical consistency of their causes, neo-orthodoxes, those who pander to donors or cultural whims, compromisers lacking moral backbone, and American evangelicals. Bibfeldt's bibliography includes his doctoral thesis, "The Problem of the Year Zero"; his response to Søren Kierkegaard's Either/Or, titled Both/And, as well as the subsequent reconsideration Either/Or and/or Both/And; and his argument for the Mesopotamian origins of baseball, The Boys of Sumer.^[2]^[3] Most of the content was collected in The Unrelieved Paradox: Studies in the Theology of Franz Bibfeldt (ISBN 0-8028-0745-3) edited by Marty and Jerald C. Brauer, which includes a discussion of "Proofs of the Existence of Franz Bibfeldt." One of Bibfeldt's most famous quotations is "Pragmatism is fine, as long as it works."

A Swedish parallel is the fictitious theologian Elof Sundin [sv] at Uppsala University since the early 1960s.

References

^ "Franz Bibfeldt: The Most Important Theologian You've Never Heard Of". Theoblogy. 2 November 2012. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
^ ^a ^b ^c Easton, John (February 1995). "The Unbearable Lightness of Being Bibfeldt". The University of Chicago Magazine.
^ ^a ^b ^c Teresi, Dick (March 28, 1999). "Is Franz Bibfeldt for Real? Yes and No". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 August 2012.

External links

Guide to the Franz Bibfeldt Papers 1951-1995 at the University of Chicago Library

This article about a fictional character is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] "Franz Bibfeldt: The Most Important Theologian You've Never Heard Of". Theoblogy. 2 November 2012. Retrieved 22 February 2018.

[unbearable-2] Easton, John (February 1995). "The Unbearable Lightness of Being Bibfeldt". The University of Chicago Magazine.

[nyt-3] Teresi, Dick (March 28, 1999). "Is Franz Bibfeldt for Real? Yes and No". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 August 2012.

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+{{short description|Hoax regarding fictitious theologian}}
-'''Franz Bibfeldt''' is a fictitious [[Theology|theologian]] and [[in-joke]] among American academic theologians.
+'''Franz Bibfeldt'''<ref>{{cite news|title=Franz Bibfeldt: The Most Important Theologian You've Never Heard Of|url=http://www.patheos.com/blogs/tonyjones/2012/11/02/franz-bibfeldt-the-most-important-theologian-youve-never-heard-of/|accessdate=22 February 2018|work=Theoblogy|date=2 November 2012}}</ref> is a fictitious [[Germans|German]] [[Theology|theologian]] and [[in-joke]] among American academic theologians.<ref name="unbearable">{{cite news|last1=Easton|first1=John|title=The Unbearable Lightness of Being Bibfeldt|url=http://magazine.uchicago.edu/9502/Feb95Bibfeldt.html|work=The University of Chicago Magazine|date=February 1995}}
+</ref><ref name="nyt">{{cite news|last=Teresi|first=Dick|title=Is Franz Bibfeldt for Real? Yes and No|url=https://www.nytimes.com/books/99/03/28/bookend/bookend.html|accessdate=19 August 2012|work=The New York Times|date=March 28, 1999}}</ref>
-Bibfeldt made his first appearance as the author of an invented footnote in a term paper of a [[Concordia Seminary]] student, Robert Howard Clausen. Clausen's classmate, [[Martin Marty]], was struck by the name and Bibfeldt became a running joke for Martin and his friends. In 1951, Marty's review of Bibfeldt's ''The Relieved Paradox'' was published in the ''Concordia Seminarian'', to the bewilderment of the Concordia faculty. When the ruse was uncovered, Marty's fellowship to study overseas was revoked, and he instead enrolled in the [[University of Chicago]], where he spent the rest of his academic career; he thus credits Bibfeldt as the German theologian who had the greatest influence on his work.
+Bibfeldt made his first appearance as the author of an [[Fictitious entry|invented footnote]] in a term paper of a [[Concordia Seminary]] student, Robert Howard Clausen. Clausen's classmate, [[Martin Marty]], adopted the name for continued satire and Bibfeldt became a running joke for Martin and his friends. His birthdate and baptismal day was set as November 1, 1897. In 1951, Marty's review of Bibfeldt's ''The Relieved Paradox'' was published in the ''Concordia Seminarian''. When the ruse was uncovered, Marty's fellowship to study overseas was revoked, and he instead enrolled in the [[University of Chicago]], where he spent the rest of his academic career.<ref name="unbearable"/><ref name="nyt"/>
-Since then Bibfeldt scholarship has greatly expanded, though the preponderance of work has come out of the [[University of Chicago]], where there is a Donnelley Stool of Bibfeldt Studies. Bibfeldt's bibliography includes his doctoral thesis, "The Problem of the Year Zero"; his response to [[Søren Kierkegaard]]'s ''[[Either/Or]]'', entitled ''Both/And'', as well as the subsequent reconsideration ''Either/Or and/or Both/And''; and his argument for the Mesopotamian origins of baseball, ''The Boys of Sumer''.<ref>{{cite news|last=Teresi|first=Dick|title=Is Franz Bibfeldt for Real? Yes and No|url=http://www.nytimes.com/books/99/03/28/bookend/bookend.html|accessdate=19 August 2012|work=The New York Times}}</ref>
+Since then most Bibfeldt writings and talks have come out of the University of Chicago, where a tradition exists of a Donnelley Stool of Bibfeldt Studies. Targets of Bibfeldt-related content include conservative theologians who maintain the historical consistency of their causes, neo-orthodoxes, those who pander to donors or cultural whims, compromisers lacking moral backbone, and American evangelicals. Bibfeldt's bibliography includes his doctoral thesis, "The Problem of the Year Zero"; his response to [[Søren Kierkegaard]]'s ''[[Either/Or]]'', titled ''Both/And'', as well as the subsequent reconsideration ''Either/Or and/or Both/And''; and his argument for the Mesopotamian origins of baseball, ''[[The Boys of Summer (book)|The Boys of Sumer]]''.<ref name="unbearable"/><ref name="nyt"/> Most of the content was collected in ''The Unrelieved Paradox: Studies in the Theology of Franz Bibfeldt'' ({{ISBN|0-8028-0745-3}}) edited by Marty and Jerald C. Brauer, which includes a discussion of "Proofs of the Existence of Franz Bibfeldt." One of Bibfeldt's most famous quotations is "Pragmatism is fine, as long as it works."
+A Swedish parallel is the fictitious theologian {{ill|Elof Sundin|sv}} at [[Uppsala University]] since the early 1960s.
-Most of the scholarship to date is collected in ''The Unrelieved Paradox: Studies in the Theology of Franz Bibfeldt'' (ISBN 0-8028-0745-3) edited by Marty and Jerald C. Brauer, which includes a discussion of "Proofs of the Existence of Franz Bibfeldt."
-A Swedish parallel is the fictitious theologian Elof Sundin at [[Uppsala university]] since the early 1960s - see the article in the Swedish Wikipedia: [[:sv:Elof Sundin]].
 ==References==
 {{reflist}}
-* http://magazine.uchicago.edu/9502/Feb95Bibfeldt.html
+==External links==
+*''[https://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/scrc/findingaids/view.php?eadid=ICU.SPCL.BIBFELDT Guide to the Franz Bibfeldt Papers 1951-1995]'' at the University of Chicago Library
 {{DEFAULTSORT:Bibfeldt, Franz}}
+[[Category:Academic shared pseudonyms]]
+[[Category:Fictional German people]]
 [[Category:Fictional theologians]]
 [[Category:In-jokes]]
 [[Category:Nonexistent people used in jokes]]
+[[Category:University folklore]]
+[[Category:University of Chicago Divinity School]]
+{{fict-char-stub}}